Page 78 of Lock Up the Darkness

Jesus Christ.

I was there in the next second, easing Asher away and onto the ring floor, studying the wound.

It was just a flesh wound.

Thank fuck. She’d missed anything vital.

To be able to do that under extreme circumstances, while pain and adrenaline had been fueling her… it was another level.

Aurora Blackthorn was no amateur.

I looked out at her as I tended to him.

She smiled at me through bloodied teeth and collapsed against the chain-link wall in relief.

To say she’d proven herself didn’t really cut it.

Fuck me.

19

~Aurora~

I winced at the pull in my side, the burning pain intensifying as I tried to put on my tank.

With a grunt, I gave up and tossed it on the bed.

It had been enough of a struggle to get my panties and lounge pants on.

I looked down and ran my fingers over the eight stitches marring my skin. Jonah had done a good job, it wouldn’t scar too badly.

I walked to my nightstand and reached for the painkillers he’d given me. With a little struggle, I managed to unscrew the lid and then pop a couple into my mouth. I’d left it a few hours longer than I should have to take my next dose.

I’d been distracted determined to take a shower after not physically being able to when I’d gotten home a couple of nights ago. Talk about a relief to have that stickiness, dirt, and blood off me now. And then I’d been focusing on my Economics assignment and finishing it off.

I’d had to call in sick to work, which bothered the hell out of me. I didn’t like being unreliable. I stuck to my commitments and lived up to them. Another thing my dad had ingrained in me. But, while I knew I could cover the bruises on my face and throat up with makeup, and hide the rest, I couldn’t be on my feet for a demanding long shift.

Not yet.

Another couple of days and I should be okay.

The same sort of thing had happened with Hexwood U. It would’ve drawn attention if I’d gone to classes and been walking awkwardly like I was hurt and struggling to seat myself.

It had been best just to play the sick card.

“Shit,” I groused to myself as I eased myself back into my bed under the covers, propped up with my pillows against the headboard, as I tried to distract myself with Friends until the painkillers kicked in.

My phone buzzed on the bedspread where I’d left it within easy reach.

For the last two days, I’d been getting consistent texts from all the guys.

Jonah had been checking in on my injury, wanting to know if I needed him to redress it and come over to help me. I’d declined, not wanting to deal with him and the mind-fuck that being around them was for me.

Not while I was in a weakened state.

At a disadvantage.

The prospect of that didn’t sit well with me at all.

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